Experts tell visitors to steer clear as notorious Fingal Spit returns in all its glory

Warnings and the killer sand

DEADLY: The notorious Fingal Spit at Port Stephens has quickly re-formed since being washed away in June, prompting warnings about instability. At least 15 people have been killed there. Picture: Tim Connell.

DEADLY: The notorious Fingal Spit at Port Stephens has quickly re-formed since being washed away in June, prompting warnings about instability. At least 15 people have been killed there. Picture: Tim Connell.

DEADLY: The notorious Fingal Spit at Port Stephens has quickly re-formed since being washed away in June, prompting warnings about instability. At least 15 people have been killed there. Picture: Tim Connell.

DEADLY: The notorious Fingal Spit at Port Stephens has quickly re-formed since being washed away in June, prompting warnings about instability. At least 15 people have been killed there. Picture: Tim Connell.

THE famed Fingal Spit, a deadly beauty which has claimed 15 lives as well as being responsible for Lara Bingle, has made another grand entrance.

After being washed away during June’s storms, some experts predicted the photogenic stretch of sand connecting Fingal Bay with the island may remain missing for years.

But the prevailing conditions have been perfect for a quick rebuild, and the magnificent spot where Ms Bingle, now Mrs Worthington, stood and asked the world where everyone was, has returned in all its glory.

But the warnings remain, with locals gentling reminding tourists that at least 15 people had been swept to their deaths from fast moving currents, sometimes not even knee deep.

“You could drive a truck along it at the moment,’’ well-known resident and author John “Stinker” Clarke said on Tuesday.

“But I would never be promoting anyone to walk along it.

“Steer clear, people.

“It’s just so dangerous, there have been umpteen deaths over the years and we don’t want any more.

“And that big southerly swell we had pounding us over the weekend could have destabilised it even more.’’

In November 2013, a Sydney man was swept away and drowned while trying to wade across the notorious formation.

A friend survived.

The spit is thought to have formed in the “Maitland Gales”of the 1890s, when pounding swells tore apart a thin spine of vegetation.